Charles A. Sanders, M.D. has dedicated his career to extending the benefits of medical care to people and communities in need around the world, and to advancing the role of physicians in this humanitarian endeavor. Over the course of this distinguished career, his knowledge and commitment have been employed in the corporate sector (including leadership positions at Glaxo and directorships at several biopharmaceutical companies); academic medicine (University of North Carolina Health Care System, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital); national research organizations (National Institutes of Health, Institute of Medicine); and the international NGO sector (a member of the Project HOPE Board of Directors for 21 years and Chairman of the Board for 18).

Dr. Sanders is the longest-serving Chair in Project HOPE’s 53-year history. Apart from HOPE’s founder Dr. William B. Walsh, no individual has made a greater contribution to the growth and international expansion of the organization and to its stature as a global leader in health education, medical training, and humanitarian assistance. As a physician, Dr. Sanders has maintained HOPE’s focus on building the capacity of health care delivery systems in developing and emerging countries around the world by training physicians and other professionals. This scholarship program recognizes and honors this commitment and supports the vital work to which Dr. Sanders has dedicated his life.

Eligibility

The Scholarship application is open to resident physicians resident from Duke University, the University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, and East Carolina University who have completed at least the first year of postgraduate training from the participating institutions and have received departmental approval.

Assignments

Project HOPE currently works in 36 countries around the world – with program sites in Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, China and Southeast Asia, Russia/Eurasia, and the Middle East. In some projects and country sites, Project HOPE works in partnership with the Department of Defense and US military services to increase capacity during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. The site selected for each rotation will have strong in-country HOPE and supervising physician leadership and a clinical program in which a resident physician could make a contribution to the local health education and health care delivery systems.

Timeline

Annual scholarship applications will be available in early January, with an application deadline of late February; candidate review, screening, and phone interviews in March and final decision making by the advisory board in early April. The selected candidate(s) will be able to schedule an orientation with the Project HOPE office in Virginia. On-site placement will take place during the July-March timeframe, depending on the schedules and availability of the residents selected, in coordination with the HOPE host site.